Repeat smuggler imprisoned for attempting to transport more than 560 aliens Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas Dateline: Corpus Christi, Texas Date: 20 December 2023 Subjects: American Government , Crime, Trucking Topic: Miguel Angel Hernandez

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 25-year-old Donna man has been sentenced for conspiring to transport illegal aliens into the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Miguel Angel Hernandez pleaded guilty April 26.

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos has now ordered Hernandez to serve 108 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence regarding Hernandez’ violent history, including a conviction for robbery after he and others held a couple and their 7-year-old daughter at gun point while they robbed their fireworks stand. In handing down the sentence, the court noted there was a “huge number” of aliens involved in this case. Further, when Hernandez tried to say he wasn’t responsible for the age of the aliens or the conditions in which they were transported, Judge Ramos made it clear that as part of the conspiracy, he was responsible for the foreseeable actions of the others and he would be held accountable for that.

In July 2021, authorities discovered 67 undocumented aliens in the back of a tractor trailer. This began an almost two-year investigation into an alien smuggling organization who recruited drivers on social media and then failed to pay them for smuggling illegal aliens through Border Patrol checkpoints.

During the investigation, law enforcement discovered Hernandez was responsible for coordinating the smuggling of countless aliens, with at least 560 apprehended in failed attempts. 

The apprehended individuals included men, women and children who were often smuggled in dangerous and inhumane ways. Due to extreme temperatures, those smuggled sometimes needed immediate medical treatment for severe dehydration.  

In one of these cases, which occurred Sept. 11, 2022, authorities discovered 115 undocumented aliens in the back of a tractor trailer during a failed smuggling attempt.

“This individual oversaw a transnational criminal organization responsible for illegally smuggling thousands of noncitizens into the U.S. in the back of tractor trailers through the deadly Texas heat with no regard for their health and safety,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Dawson, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston. “Today’s sentencing is the culmination of years of hard work by HSI Corpus Christi, HSI McAllen and our law enforcement partners in South Texas to successfully dismantle this human smuggling organization and restore some integrity to our nation’s immigration system.”

Hernandez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of Customs and Border Protection. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara J. De Peña prosecuted the case.

Updated December 21, 2023